


Handcuffs

by orphan_account



Series: JayTim Valentines Week 2017 [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), DC Comics, Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: Humour, JayTimWeek: Valentines Edition, M/M, Silly boyfriends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 12:51:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9727613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “Babe…” He will not laugh. He can hold it. There is always an explanation. “What is this?”JayTim Valentine's Week Entry #1: Handcuffs





	

Tim comes home on Valentine’s Day with a two-year-old on one arm and three bags on the other. He has had a long day at work, as has been the case for a few weeks, but he remembers fondly the free chocolate in the lunchroom. He is in a good mood.

Sebastian babbles happily as he goes about closing the door. Sebastian’s speech is developing very quickly at this age, much to his own delight. There is not much proper diction yet - his mind seems to work a little too quickly for his mouth to keep up - but he soaks up vocabulary like a sponge. Both in French and English.

Tim listens with rapt interest as his son tells him about his day at kindergarten. 

“An’ then I played in the sandbox with Tess and she made a castle.” Sebastian is looking at him with wide eyes, the intrigue of his story affecting him in full. “An’ we put water on it and it broke, an’ then we got, ah,” for a moment his eyes go distant, reliving the memory. “We got a boat, an’ it floated down the castle because, because there was water on it.”

“Sounds like you had fun,” Tim says warmly. “What did you do then?”

Sebastian starts up again just as Tim sets him down. He stands by Tim’s feet and gestures with his hands as his words become more and more blended together with excitement. Tim hums with interest at correct intervals. He sets down his keys on the table by the door and toes out of his shoes as he listens. Once he has shrugged out of his jacket and hung it up, he takes the bags and his son’s hand and walks further into the house towards the kitchen. 

Sebastian keeps talking the whole way. It was one of the things they learned early on, both from other parents and from Sebastian himself: children like to talk. 

As he unpacks the bags, Tim listens to the story of how the boat escaped the monster in the water castle. He has two grocery bags and one smaller bag from a hobby shop in town that he knows Jason loves. 

He will admit to having let the date slip his mind for a little while. Still, he had an idea of what to get Jason over a month ago, and he had the foresight to order it for pickup on this day. It rests now on the counter next to him as he unpacks. He is aware of some excitement at getting to show Jason his gift, which is a good sign. He has never been very good with gifts. 

“An’ Tess said to fight the monster with sand, because we were in the sandbox, but, but I said the boat didn’ wanna fight and he wanted to be friends,” Sebastian continues. Tim chuckles, amused.

“Is that right? And did the boat and the monster become friends?” he asks. Sebastian nods his head eagerly and goes about explaining exactly how that relationship came about. It sounds suspiciously similar to the method some talking bees used to make friends with a flower in a children’s tv show that Tim remembers watching with him the other day. He still nods along with great interest, as is the way of an indulgent parent. 

With the bags unpacked and the gift safely on the counter, Tim goes about the task of feeding the little energy bundle on the floor. He prepares a sandwich and cuts it into pieces, placing it on the kitchen island where they keep Sebastian’s chair. 

“Alright, Champ,” he says, reaching down to pick him up. “Let’s get some food into you.” 

The moment he finishes that sentence, he hears the distant clicks and shifts of the front door. Jason is home, and from the look on his face, Sebastian has picked up on it too. His son just about bounces in his arms, well aware of what that sound means. 

Tim feigns surprise. “Who’s that at the door do you think?” 

Sebastian lights up with reverent joy. “Papa,” he mumbles. Tim smiles and kisses his temple. He sets him back down on the floor. 

“Go say hi,” he says, and watches Sebastian run off down the hall. He is not very fast yet, having just learned how to walk and run, but he is learning quickly. He cannot fly at the moment, as Tim is sure he would otherwise. An inconspicuous bracelet on his wrist makes sure of his inability to use his powers in public. It is not something Tim wants to do, but it would complicate their laying low if he were to fly to kindergarten every day and build sandcastles with TTK. 

“Papa!” Sebastian shouts in the other room. 

“Buddy!” Jason replies with matching enthusiasm. There is some shifting and a soft grunt as Jason picks him up. Tim smiles and shakes his head. He goes to the counter to pick up Jason’s gift. Then he waits for Jason to come in. 

Jason comes into the kitchen with a very happy child on his arm. His already present smile gets wider when he catches sight of Tim. 

“I played with Tess today in kindergarten,” Sebastian is saying. “We made a castle!”

“Oh yeah?” Jason is nodding along. “What happened then?”

Tim almost laughs as Sebastian launches into a full retelling of the story once more. Almost. 

Jason’s look is warm and affectionate, and Tim returns it over Sebastian’s head. Tim gestures to the sandwich on the island. Jason nods and walks over to put Sebastian in his chair. Sebastian does not seem to notice. 

“An’ then they were friends, an’ they had cookies.” Sebastian takes a break in talking when Jason pushes his plate closer. He picks up a sandwich chunk carefully and then shoves it into his mouth, humming thoughtfully as he does. 

“Welcome home,” Tim says and wraps his arms around Jason’s waist, putting the gift behind him. Jason leans in, relaxing into his arms. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Jason says. He presses his lips to Tim’s, and Tim pulls him closer. His hands run up Tim’s arms and come around to settle on his back.

“I got you something,” Tim says once they part. Jason leans his forehead on Tim’s. 

“Yeah?” he says. “Is it another themed tie? Because that last one was-”

“Stop.” Tim pinches his hip. “I’m doing my best. Where’s the appreciation?”

Jason laughs. “I was about to, but I was interrupted.”

Tim does not believe him. He kisses Jason’s cheek and then lets go to show him the small gift bag in his hands. 

Jason takes it and shakes it curiously. His eyes flicker up to Tim’s before he removes the soft paper padding and reaches inside. 

A rectangular box comes out, glossy cardboard. It is covered in images of half-written letters with golden and black script. On the lid is a picture of a gold-tipped ink pen up close, the writer mid-letter. Jason’s expression softens. 

“A calligraphy set,” he says, visibly touched. “You remembered.”

“I remembered.” Tim throws a glance to make sure their son is still doing alright in his periphery. He then kisses Jason softly on the lips. 

“Thank you,” Jason mutters against his mouth. 

“You’re welcome,” Tim says smugly. He is happy with this gift. It is a strange new feeling, but he could get used to it. 

“Well, now I feel bad.” Jason chuckles and turns over the box. On the back is a list of the items in it. It is an expensive set - the same one he held up that one time and said that it would be cool to try sometime - and so contains a lot of inks and several pens. “My gift isn’t exactly this fancy.”

“That doesn’t matter.” Tim looks at Sebastian again. Their son is still devouring sandwich chunks contentedly. “I’ll love it.”

“You sound so sure.” Jason grins.“You don’t know what it is yet.”

Tim grins. “Promise.”

Jason walks out to the hall and turns into the living room, leaving Tim and Sebastian alone for a few moments. 

Sebastian smiles when Tim waves at him, one of his bright mischievous smiles. Tim smiles back, wrinkling his nose until his son is giggling around the food in his mouth. 

Jason appears behind him in the doorway with a wrapped bundle. He presents it proudly to Tim, who takes it with an amused glint in his eye. The package is small, haphazardly wrapped, but it is clear that Jason is excited about it. Tim accepts it with appropriate reverence. 

“It’s somewhat sentimental, I’ll have you know,” Jason says as Tim tears up the paper. Tim is unsure what he should expect from that. 

The package opens up, and Tim stares. He blinks. 

“Babe…” He will not laugh. He can hold it. There is always an explanation. “What is this?”

Jason leans on the kitchen island. He looks immeasurably amused. 

“That,” he says as Tim fishes it out of the paper, “is a handcuff.”

It is indeed just one handcuff. It is missing the other cuff as well as the chain which should link them together. 

“I can see that,” Tim says, his voice deceptively steady.  “It’s also painted red, and… are those rhinestones? Did you  _ bedazzle  _ this?”

“Uh-huh,” Jason says proudly. “It’s actually more of a bracelet now.”

“Where did you even get this?” Tim asks. He is shaking his head, turning the cuff this way and that to inspect it. He can imagine several ways Jason could have gotten a hold of it, and he is not sure which is the best scenario. 

Jason takes a moment to answer, which Tim takes notice of. 

“It’s a souvenir, of sorts.” His voice is surprisingly soft, now with less humour in it. “It’s one half of the set that was used the first time I was arrested.”

Tim can indeed see the initials  _ GCPD  _ engraved in the ridge beneath the cuff. It is framed by the rhinestones, untouched. Now that he is looking for it, he can see how scuffed it is. The damage and wear which has been partially covered in shiny plastic stones. It dawns on Tim what exactly he is holding. 

Jason is sharing a memory with him, if in a joking and kind of convoluted way. A memory not from when he was Red Hood, or even Robin, but from when he was a little kid living in a rundown apartment with nothing but himself to keep him alive. A time which for the purpose of all conversation barely even existed at all. This is not a conversation, though. It is not words. It is tangible evidence that it happened, tacked with a disclaimer just to mitigate the discomfort of acknowledging it in front of Tim. In his own complicated way, Jason is attempting a new level of intimacy with him. 

Tim looks up at Jason, his mouth open and silently moving. He does not know what to say. 

Jason watches him, now a little uncomfortable. He taps his fingers on the counter behind him. 

“So,” he says, nonchalant. “Do you?”

Tim blinks. “Do I what?”

“Love it. You promise you would.”

Jason’s teasing smile is fragile. Tim chuckles breathlessly. 

He walks up to Jason and puts his hands on the counter, caging Jason in. He kisses Jason with a new sort of tenderness, trying to press all the emotion into it just as Jason did with his gift. Neither of them was ever particularly good with words when it came to the other. 

“I absolutely do,” he says, and touches his forehead to Jason’s. 

Jason trails his hand down Tim’s arm. He takes the cuff from Tim’s hand. 

Tim looks on as Jason clips it around his wrist. It matches the sweater he is wearing, a soft red which Tim feels very comfortable in. The rhinestones look ridiculous though, completely different from anything Tim would ever have gotten for himself. 

He loves it. 

“I love you,” he says in a low tone. They have said it before, but it is still a reverent admission. It is fresh and impactful enough that it makes Jason’s hands stutter over his wrist. Jason’s thumb strokes softly over his skin. 

“I love you too,” Jason says. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”


End file.
